16 August 2006

The BBC is proposing to draw up plans for a plug-in gadget that will turn MP3 players into digital radios.

At present the BBC have not revealed any concrete details about the plug-in gadget or how much it will cost. Nor has a date been announced for when the add-on radio might appear. The BBC Spokesman simply said they hope the plug-in gadget will be available sooner rather than later.

"It's important for us to make sure that people can listen to digital radio on their own terms," said a BBC spokesman.

MP3 players, most significantly Apple iPods have grown in popularity and a study released at the end of June confirmed this, revealing that ownership of MP3 players has doubled since 2003. The study (by market research firm Ipsos) revealed that approximately 20% of Americans over the age of 12 own one of the portable players.

The BBC spokesman said at the moment the broadcaster was carrying out feasibility studies to see how easy it would be to develop and market the clip-on gadget. It was made evident by the BBC spokesman that the plug-in device would not be limited to playing just the BBC digital radio stations. Versions might also be available for mobile phones and cars.

He would not give anything away about potential partners in the project, but dismissed as "pure speculation" that Apple was involved.

Apple's iPod dominates the portable music player market. Many users have a clip-on gadget for it called the iTrip which enables them to listen to their collection of tracks via FM radio. There are also many other gadgets and add-on extras for the iPod and other MP3 players.